Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Caudipteryx

Say it caw-dip-ter-iks. The name means ‘tail feather’.

Caudipteryx beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 1 m
Weight: 2 kg
Diet: Ate plants and animals
Walked: On 2 legs
When: Early Cretaceous125 to 122 million years ago
Fossils found in: China
Named by: Ji, Currie, Norell and Ji. (1998)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Neotheropoda › Tetanurae › Avetheropoda › Coelurosauria › Tyrannoraptora › Maniraptoriformes › Maniraptora › Oviraptorosauria › Caudipterygidae

Where Caudipteryx sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Beipiaosaurus · same country
Confuciusornis · same country
Equijubus · same country
Jinzhousaurus · same country
Liaoceratops · same country
Sinosauropteryx · same country
Sinovenator · same country
Protarchaeopteryx · same country

Other small theropods

Sinocalliopteryx Early Cretaceous
Sinosauropteryx Early Cretaceous
Shanag Early Cretaceous
Beipiaosaurus Early Cretaceous
Confuciusornis Early Cretaceous
Pelecanimimus Early Cretaceous
Sinovenator Early Cretaceous
Protarchaeopteryx Early Cretaceous

Source: Caudipteryx in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.